Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Ok, I’m so late, but today is still in April, please forgive me. I always forget to see the post date, and this is my second time (the first is last month, but I made it, almost late). But for this month I can’t post in the 27 of April because I still didn’t made it, and this recipe need a lot of time from start to finish so it take me 2 days to finish. This recipe is from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth by Jill O’Connor (this book appear so many times in my blog, and I really love it), the lovely and cute cheesecake pops. It’s a great challenge for me at this time, the result is delicious, and I think you should try this at home, too.

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages

cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups

sugar

¼ cup

all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon

salt

5

large eggs

2

egg yolks

2 teaspoons

pure vanilla extract

¼ cup

heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound

chocolate, finely chopped– you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Last week, I need some inspiration, not a recipe (I have too much of it, you know that), I want to try something I never make before and suddenly I remembered, I never make an apple cake before. I really love eating any bake good that has a fruit in and why I never bake it myself. So, when I saw this recipe Cake à la pomme et aux raisins, I really want to make it. But I don’t need a recipe, I told you, so I made a lot of change. This is not a simple apple cake, this is a cake with a lot of things to chew, apple (I don’t grated it, but cut into a small pieces), nut and rum raisin. I turn the big recipe into a small one (only 6 muffin size cake), due to the fact that I just received this little paper cup from my friend Koy (Bake-Aholic), who love to bake as much (or more) as me (and this paper cup make my cake look so lovely, Thank you Koy). This cake turns out to be great, especially for anyone who loves fruit and nut and it tastes so healthy.

Note: I use only 60 g of sugar because I use a sweet apple, so if you use a tart apple, you can use up to 85 g of sugar.

Mini Apple and Rum Raisin Cake

Makes 6 muffin size cake

1

Medium size apple (peeled and cut into small dice)

15 g

Raisins soaked in dark rum *

60 g

Nut (any of your choice, I use macadamia), lightly toasted and chopped

60 g

Unsalted butter

60 g

Sugar

1

Egg

1

Egg yolk

90 g

Cake flour

⅛ tsp

Salt

¼ tsp

Baking powder

¼ tsp

Grounded cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Place the paper cup into the muffin pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, grounded cinnamon and salt.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk and beat well after addition.

Put half of the flour mixture into the egg and butter mixture mix until blended. Then add the raisins, apple, nut and the rest of the flour mixture, mix just until combined.

Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full. Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20-25 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans and cool on a rack.

* I make by using 100 g of raisins and 50 g of dark rum, let soak until plump.

The raisins can be keep in the refrigerator and use in any recipe that call for raisins.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

It’s easy to fall in love with cupcake, by its size and decoration plus easy to eat. This recipe is an adaptation recipe from デイリーマフィン&おめかしカップケーキ(Daily muffin & Decoration cup cake) by Kaori Ishibashi (I already wrote about it, you can read about it here). As I told you when I tell you about the book, this is my own mix and match. Start with coffee cupcake, I added the coffee crumble, which turn this cupcake into lovely cake for my sister (I know you can remember her passion for crumble on top of everything), plus it easy to enjoy than butter cream (and easier to make too). This is a small recipe so you will get only 6 cupcakes but I have to tell you that the taste of the coffee is not so small. So, grab all the ingredient, preheat the oven and you will get a delicious coffee cupcake in less than one hour (and I love the fact that, it’s ready to eat immediately after coming out of the oven).

Crumble Coffee Cupcake

Makes 6 cupcakes

For the cake

2 tsp

Instant coffee

80 ml

Milk

90 g

Unsalted butter

70 g

Sugar

1

Egg

110 g

Cake flour

1 tsp

Baking powder

A pinch of

Salt

For coffee crumble

¼ tsp

Instant coffee

1 tbsp

Whipping cream (warm)

30 g

Unsalted butter (cold)

40 g

Light brown sugar

50 g

Cake flour

⅛ tsp

Salt

Preparation:

Make the crumble:

Dissolve the instant coffee in the whipping cream.

Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine. Then rub the butter into the flour mixture with the coffee whipping cream. Keep rubbing until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Make the coffee cup cake:

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Place the paper cup into the muffin pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Warm the milk in the microwave and dissolve the instant coffee, let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the egg and beat well after addition.

Add the flour in 3 parts, alternating with the coffee milk mixture, beating well after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full, sprinkle with the crumble mixture Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 30-35 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans and cool on a rack or enjoy while still hot.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

This is the book that devoted to cupcake and decoration, plus it will give you imagination. デイリーマフィン&おめかしカップケーキ(Daily muffin & Decoration cup cake) by Kaori Ishibashi

Decoration suggestions

The book divided into two sections, muffin recipes (the cupcake recipes) and decoration part. The muffin recipe part is filled with a lot of recipe, its variation (about 12 main recipes + 24 variations) and basic decoration suggestions. The quantity of the recipe is quite small, only 6 cupcake, so it’s good for small family and the person who love to try something new.

Basic recipes and variations

The basic recipe is not basic as it sounds, white chocolate, green tea, caramel, and etc. with the variation like cornmeal muffin with blue cheese, milk chocolate with sesame seed and much more, I think it just the beginning, because I can think about more variation of this recipe.

Many varieties

For the decoration part, it filled with butter cream recipe (Italian meringue and custard), ganache, cream cheese frosting, caramel cream and etc. with the combination suggestion, like banana muffin with caramel butter cream, pumpkin muffin with custard butter cream or plain muffin with chocolate ganache plus decoration (like nut, sugared flower, or crumble). But this is not a book with serious decoration pattern, it’s easy to follow and need no decoration experience.

Decoration part

As I say that this small book will give you an imagination, because from the suggestion in the book you will see a lot of possibility, you can make your own combination, mix and match to suite your own taste. So, you can turn your cup cake into a lovely one with an ease and I forgot to tell you that the photographs are lovely too.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The name of this cookie is coming from French word, which means the curved tile. This thin cookie is very enjoyable and I, who make it, rarely have a chance to enjoy. Because when take it out of the oven and place on the plate, the entire member in the family will start taking it into their mouths. If you using silicone baking mat, it will be better to use template to spread the mixture into thin cookie less than ⅛ inch because the cookie won’t spread again in the oven.

Tuilles

Makes about 30

2

Egg whites

½ cup

Sugar

1/3 cup

All-purpose flour

½ tsp

Vanilla extract

50 g

Melted butter

¼ cup

Sliced almond

Preheat the oven to 190°C

Line the baking pan with nonstick baking paper.

Whisk together egg whites and sugar, then add the flour, vanilla extract, and cooled melted butter. Whisk until smooth, place 1 tsp of the mixture onto lined baking pan. Spread the mixture out to 8 cm circles (You may only fit 6 or 8 per pan); sprinkle the sliced almond. Bake until golden around the edges about 6 minutes.

While still hot, remove from the pan and place over the rolling pin to curl.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

got a request from someone, she wants a brownie recipe but afraid that most of the recipe won’t fit her small oven, as you can find many recipe use a big pan like 23x33 cm (9x13 inch). So, I think about this recipe, the size of the pan is just 16X16 cm, very small one. The recipe from ................the book that I bought a long time ago (I really want to try this brownie recipe and this is the reason for buying this book, now the book serve its purpose). This is a light texture brownie but full flavored (I use 70% cocoa chocolate but you can use other kind of chocolate), I almost finish all the brownie by now, so can I call this brownie “selfish brownie” because I don’t have enough to share with anyone.

Small and Selfish Brownie

Make 16X16 cm

120 g

Salted butter

85 g

All purpose flour

15 g

Cocoa powder (Dutch processed)

60 g

Semisweet chocolate

60 g

Pecan nut

3

Egg yolks

3

Egg white

120 g

Sugar

½ tsp

Vanilla extract

Pan preparation: 16 x 16 cm pan lined with baking paper

Preheat oven: 180°C

Sift all purpose flour and cocoa powder together.

1. Toast the nut in 180°C oven for 5-6 minutes until fragranced, then chop

2. Put the chocolate into a bowl over the hot water to melt then add the butter and stir to melt the butter.

3. Mix the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and half of the sugar until light in color, then add the chocolate mixture, stir to combine.

5. Make the meringue by beating the egg white with the rest of the sugar until soft peak form.

6. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then add half of the rest fold to combine. Add the rest of the meringue with the nut, fold to combine and pour into the prepared pan.

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes (the book suggest 25-30 minutes but mine using more time) until the top is spring lightly when touch and the cake taster come out with a little crumb.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I love comfort food and this is one of them, crunchy top and cheesy inside, what a lovely dish. It’s so easy to make and after you put it in the oven, everything done. The original recipe is coming from ................ but I convert to gram and increase the baking time as my gratin take more time to brown (you may need to adjust it to suit your oven). The gratin is delicious and I think it should be rated A for comforting me.

Macaroni Gratin

Serves 6-8

Base

450 g

elbow macaroni

120 g

lightly smoked slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 tablespoons

olive oil

White sauces

60 g

Butter

60 g

all-purpose flour

5 cups

whole milk

40 g

grated Parmesan cheese

80 g

grated Gruyère cheese

1½ teaspoons

salt

½ teaspoon

Pepper

Topping

60 g (or enough to cover the top)

grated Gruyère cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Cook the macaroni according to the directions on the package. Drain, toss with the olive oil, and set aside in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the bacon to a small skillet and sauté over medium heat until brown but not crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels and add to the cooked macaroni.

4. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk just to a foamy boil, then reduce the heat to very low to keep warm.

5. In another saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the foam subsides, remove from the heat. Whisk in the flour and continue stirring until a smooth, pale roux has formed. Return the saucepan to medium heat and, while still whisking steadily, begin ladling the hot milk into the roux, 1 cup at a time, completely incorporating each cup before adding the next. After all the milk has been added, continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and bubbles gently, about 2 minutes. Add the Parmesan, Gruyère, and the salt and pepper, and stir until the cheese has completely melted.

6. Pour the sauce over the macaroni, mix thoroughly, and pour into a buttered 10 X 14-inch gratin dish, sprinkle the Gruyère on top. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Easy and fresh, with a lot of blueberry, this is a great ice cream for any one who wants a lot of freshness. This recipe is an adaptation from ............... As the same I reduce the sugar but you can use up to 150 gram if you want to. This recipe is easier than the custard base because you don’t have to do anything more than put all the ingredients into the blender (I don’t use a strainer to remove the seeds, so if you skip this will be easiest ice cream recipe). This ice cream is very tangy but I think it’s so refreshing and will be great on the too warm day.

Blueberry Cream Yogurt Ice Cream

Makes about 1 liter

180 g

Whipping cream

180 g

Plain whole milk yogurt

130 g

sugar

340 g

blueberries, fresh or frozen

In a blender or food processor, blend together the whipping cream, plain whole milk yogurt, sugar, and blueberries. Press the mixture through a strainer to remove the seeds (I don’t mind having the seeds, so it’s up to you). Chill for 1 hour.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

I think this is the best banana cake recipe that I found; the cake is so moist and soft. The recipe is coming from .................. This cake use a lot of banana but still soft without being too damp plus right amount of salt make this cake more delicious.

Banana Cake with Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache

Makes One 9-inch by 2-inch cake

227 g

Banana

30 g

sour cream

2 (100g)

large eggs

2 tsp

grated lemon zest

1½ tsp

Vanilla

200 g

Cake Flour

170 g

Sugar

1 tsp

Baking soda

¾ tsp

Baking powder

½ tsp

Salt

142 g

Unsalted butter (must be soften)

*For extra moistness you can use up to 120 g of sour cream.

Pan preparation: One 9-inch by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan, greased, bottom lined with parchment or wax pa per, and then greased again and floured.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a food processor process the banana and sour cream until smooth. Add the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla and process briefly just to blend.

In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and ½ the banana mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1½ minutes to aerate and strengthen the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the remaining banana mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and develop the structure. Scrape down the sides.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and unmold or remove the sides of the springform pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before wrapping airtight.

Sour Cream Ganache

Makes 2⅔ cups

340 g

bittersweet chocolate

400 g

sour cream

In a double boiler set over hot water or in a microwave on high power, stirring every 10 seconds, melt the chocolate. Remove from the heat and add the sour cream. Stir with a rubber spatula until uniform in color. If the pan feels warm, transfers to a bowl.

Use at once or store, and when ready to use soften by placing the bowl in a water bath or a microwave for a few seconds, stirring gently.

Note: The chocolate must still be warm and the sour cream room temperature when combined or the chocolate will lump.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

I don’t think oat is for only children, like this cookie, it’s welcomed by everyone in my family. The original recipe is coming from..................but you should know me by now that too much sweet is not my type (but I have to admit that oatmeal cookie need a bit sweet). I reduce the sugar and add a lot of nut, so this is an oatmeal cookie that will give you a crunchy and lightly sweet. When coming out of the oven it will soft but don’t be panic, it will be firm when cool.

Oatmeal Raisin and Nut Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

260 g

ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR

7 g

BAKING SODA

4 g

GROUND CINNAMON

6 g

SALT

340 g

UNSALTED BUTTER

80 g

SUGAR

390 g

BROWN SUGAR

140 g

EGGS

7.5 ml

VANILLA EXTRACT

260 g

ROLLED OATS

170 g

DARK RAISINS

100 g

CHOPPED NUT

1. Line sheet pans with parchment.

2 Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed with a paddle attachment, scraping down the bowl periodically, until the mixture is smooth and light in color, about 7 minutes. Blend the eggs and vanilla and add to the butter-sugar mixture in three additions, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. On low speed, mix in the sifted dry ingredients and the oats, nut and raisins until just incorporated.

4. Scale the dough into 2-oz/57-g portions and arrange on the prepared sheet pans in even rows.

5 Bake at 375°F/190°C until the cookies are light golden brown, about 1 2 minutes. Allow to cool slightly on the pans. Transfer to racks and cool completely.

Monday, April 7, 2008

I’m not feeling well for many days, so I miss my oven very much. But I’m just recovering so I don’t want to make anything so complicated. By flipping through the book I find this one quite easy to do. The recipe is coming from ............(I talk about it before). The original recipe makes 4 pieces but today I make a big one instead, you can follow this instruction for 4 pieces or bake the big one like me but the time will be about 20-25 minutes.

Focaccia

Makes 4 Focaccia

200 g

Bread flour

3 g

Instant yeast

4 g

Sugar

4 g

Salt

10 ml

Olive oil

150 ml

Water

Olive oil for brushing

Pitted dark olive

Thyme

Put flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a bowl, whisk to combine. Form a well in the center; pour in the water and olive oil.

Begin to mix with hand until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes (or 100 time), until smooth and no longer sticky.

Place dough in oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place free of drafts for 1 to 1 ½ hours. Dough should be doubled in bulk.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for a few minutes then divide into 4 pieces and roll the dough into balls and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes. Roll balls into circles on a lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin.

The circles should be about 5-inch in diameter.

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place.

(I make a big one)

About 10 minutes before baking, press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations, and drizzle olive oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped Thyme evenly over the dough.

Place dough on oiled baking sheets and bake about 15 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Palmiers: French name mean palm trees, because the cookies resembles the leaves of a palm. This is the description that Bo writes in the recipe; sometime I call them butterfly (which sounds lovelier). This is the cookie that I really want to make for a long time, but use the purchased puff pastry is not challenge enough, so it takes me a lot of time to practice the puff pastry making before start making it. But if you don’t want to make your own puff pastry, you can use the purchased one, because you will bake the cookie in batch, so make it a lot or less don’t seen to be any problem.

Even he mentions that I should not leave out the sugar in the dough but the taste is so sweet that I can’t enjoy it as much as I want. But if you don’t mind the sweet taste, Bo said that “The granulated sugar not only takes the place of flour to prevent the dough from sticking, but also makes the Palm Leaves crisp, shiny, and sweet, as the sugar caramelizes while the cookies are baking. You may not use up all of the sugar in the recipe, but the more sugar you can roll into the puff pastry, the better. Should you fail to roll enough sugar into the dough, the cookies will not only be less sweet, they will spread out too far and lose their special shape.” I wonder that my cookies will be bad the first time that I leave out the sugar but it’s still ok (the credit goes to his puff pastry recipe that so good, the palmier comes out great, they puff and crisp). So, use sugar or not I think it depends on your desire.

Ps. I include the sugar in the recipe, so if you don’t use it in rolling just follow the way to fold the puff pastry.

1. Roll out the puff pastry in the granulated sugar to make a rectangle measuring 24 x 12 inches (60 x 30 cm) and about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. If the dough is uneven or too large on any side, trim it to the proper dimensions. Keep turning and moving the dough as you roll it out, spreading the sugar evenly underneath and on top of the puff pastry at the same time to keep the dough from sticking to the table.

2. Place the dough in front of you horizontally. Fold the long sides of the rectangle in to meet in the center. Fold the dough again as if you close the book, cover with plastic and put it the refrigerator until firm.

3. Preheat the oven to 219 °C.

Cut the folded strip into slices 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, (and cover with sugar if you don’t use the sugar when rolling the dough, like me). Place the slices, cut- side up, on sheet pans lined with baking paper or Silpats. Keep in mind as you place them on the pans that they will spread to about 3 times as wide while baking.

4. Bake until the sugar starts to caramelize and turn golden on the bottoms, about 8 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the oven and quickly turn each cookie over on the pan, using a spatula or metal scraper. Let the cookies cool.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

This is very easy to make and too eat, I have many recipes for making this kind of cookie but some of the too rich to enjoy (one of my recipe is very delicious but I can’t take more than one piece at a time). The cookie is good, not too rich and easy to enjoy. I add salt into the recipe because macadamia is more delicious with salt.

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

Makes about 12

125g

butter, softened

85 g

soft light brown sugar

1 teaspoon

vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon

salt

1

large egg yolk

150 g

Plain flour

75 g

White chocolate chopped

50 g

macadamia nuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.

Beat together the butter and sugar until it is pale and creamy, either in an electric mixer or, if you are feeling energetic, by hand. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg yolk. Add the flour, white chocolate chunks and chopped nuts. Mix until you have a smooth dough, with the only lumps being the chocolate and nuts.

Using your hands, roll the dough into golf-sized balls and lightly press each one flat on to a greased baking sheet, making sure they are spread slightly apart.

Bake for 12 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes before either eating or cooling completely on a wire rack.